How Important Is Your Sleep?

Our lives are fast. Time does not wait for us and we do not wait for the time. Neither can catch up to each other. There are days when you have so much work and tasks to do that sleep feels like an impossible reality. You have to submit the report to your boss in the office, you have to pick up groceries from the market on your way home, you have to read a bedtime story to your kid and see that they complete their homework. There isn’t enough time left and you end up going to bed late and getting up early. And then there are days when you are determined to get your eight hours of sleep at any cost. You don’t mess around with unnecessary work and end up getting a good night’s sleep.

alarm

Sometimes sleep seems like a perfectly fine waste of time. Why should you spend close to one-third of your life sleeping when instead you could gear up and do something more useful? You could, after all, achieve great success in those lost hours. Not sleeping should be the thing responsible for your body, right?

This is the part where your brain tricks you. Sleep is essential for forming memories. It is responsible for your brain’s physiological maintenance. When your body is asleep, your brain is still awake acting like a mental janitor by clearing out all of the junk that has accumulated as a result of your daily thinking.

Here are a few reasons why should you make sleep a priority

  1. Fatigue: Sleep deprivation results in fatigue, low energy throughout the day, and poor concentration. You have an irritable mood and are inattentive.
  2. Immunity: Your immune system is more likely to break down when you have burned the candle at both ends. It can cause abnormal thyroid function and growth hormone secretion.
  3. Prediabetes: Sleep deprivation causes impaired glucose tolerance, or higher than normal blood sugar levels.
  4. Stress: Not having enough sleep causes elevated levels of cortisol (stress hormone). You are likely to have neurological disturbances including visual illusions, hallucinations, blurred vision, memory lapses, and droopy eyes.

sleepSo the next question automatically becomes how to make sleep a priority? Here are a few suggestions you could practice:

  1. Enticing bed routine: Our brain loves patterns. Save appropriate activities until the minutes leading up to bedtime. This signals your brain that sleep is on the horizons and your brain treats it as a reward.
  2. Streamlined and peaceful bedroom: By re-purposing your sleeping space you are tricking your brain, making it difficult to go to bed. Leave your gadgets, snacks, and work stuff out of the room for a blissful sleep.
  3. Consistent bedtime: Although easier said than done but try to maintain a consistent routine. Research shows that the most beneficial hormone secretions and bodily recovery occur between the hours of 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
  4. Sleep is an investment: The busier you are during the day, the less time you have to sleep. Re-prioritize your schedule and invest some hours in your sleep. A little extra sleep is instrumental in health and work benefits too.

Image Courtesy: GOOGLE

GTU to conduct Examination for final year students, here’s how it will be conducted…!

GTU – Gujarat Technological University to conduct online as well as offline exams on 2nd of July. V.C. of GTU Navin Seth and V.C. of MS University Parimal Vyas raised an issue about exams and said that:

“All private universities are conducting examinations and if state universities do not conduct exams, the students enrolled with them are going to face serious repercussions for the same – in terms of not being able to go for higher study, or even bag a job. “Their competence in the time to come will be challenged.”

So, the GTU has decided to conduct examination for final year candidates.

GTU (@GTUoffice) | Twitter

“Allow universities to frame examination guidelines as per their requirement and local dynamics. The new proposed guidelines may create further issues, so the framework of new guidelines regarding cancellation of examination must incorporate the flexibility of giving autonomy to individual universities for taking the decision regarding the date, mode of examination and other related guidelines in line with the set norms of UGC,” – the V.C. said.
GTU also plans to conducts for those who have fear and lives in containment zone via online mode as well as off in the month of September-October.
We have students from 32 states. To bring uniformity in exam patterns for Gujarat, out of state and of India students, we decided to conduct online exams for all. I raised only one point and asked All India University members that they should convey to UGC that universities should be given autonomy to decide and conduct exams. No mandatory guidelines for all universities should be set for blanket implementation,” Vyas said
GTU gets 'Most Trusted State University' - Times of India
The online mode of exam will be conducted with high safety in hand on hand with varasity, and planned to conduct exams of around 1600+ students with 1 supervisor for each 15 student and the computers will be completely checked there will be no copy-paste option available as well as browsing on the internet will also be disabled for an additional security each and every 1600+ students movement will be recorded, computers will be properly sanitized before and after use.
The offline exams will be conducted for those who are willing to go for offline mode. There will only 15 students on each class and 1 supervisor for each 15 students proper distance will be allotted between each student and proper sanitation procedure will be followed up.
The timings of the online mode is 2.5 hours where as for offline mode is 2 hours with the reduced question. For different typing speed of each student differs additional half hour time is allotted for students of online mode of examination.
GTU diploma, PDDC and BPH December 2018 exam result declared at ...

Intrinsic factors affecting the growth of microorganisms in food

There are various types of interactions between microorganisms and other living organisms. These interactions are natural, constant and also play a significant role in maintaining the ecological balance and stability of the biogeochemical cycle of the nature. Mostly, the food products we consume are obtained from plants and animals and also these foods are rich in variety of microorganisms which may or may not be pathogenic to humans. Growth of microorganisms in food depends on various different parameters which can be broadly classified as INTRINSIC and EXTRINSIC factors.
INTRINSIC FACTORS –
These are the factors that are present in the food substance in which the microorganism is growing, or it may be said as the internal factors of that particular food substrate. Various intrinsic factors are-

  1. Hydrogen Ion Concentration – All the microorganisms have minimal, maximal, or optimal pH for their growth and survival. Thus, the growth of microorganisms in food is affected by the pH of the food material. Foods may be classified as low pH or high pH foods. Most fruits, fermented foods come under high acid foods whereas most vegetables, meat, fish and milk are low acid foods. pH range of different microorganisms are :
    • Molds – 1.5-9.0
    • Yeasts – 2.0-8.5
    • Gram-positive bacteria – 4.0-8.5
    • Gram-negative bacteria – 4.5-9.0
  2. Water activity or moisture content – Water activity can be defined as the measure of availability of water present in any substance which can be used for biological functions and it also gives an idea of free water present in any food product. Water is an excellent requirement for microorganism for their growth. It has been observed and noted that the water activity of fresh food substances is 0.99. Also bacteria require more water activity i.e. free water in any food substrate for their growth than molds and yeasts. If specifically studied, it will be observed that gram-negative bacteria have relatively higher water requirements than gram-positive bacteria. Free water in any food substance is an essential requirement for the growth of microorganisms. Water activity of any food can be reduced by various absorption techniques to reduce the affect of spoilage by microorganisms.
  3. Redox Potential – Redox potential can be defined as the reducing and oxidizing power of food and it also greatly influences the growth of microorganisms in food. The concentration of oxygen present in any food sample determines the type of microorganism that will grow in it. Like, aerobic microbes require the oxygen whereas anaerobic microbes can also grow in lack of oxygen. So, it can be said aerobes grow at positive O-R potential whereas anaerobes grow at negative O-R potential.
  4. Composition of nutrients – Food composition is also an another intrinsic factor which influences the growth of microorganisms in food. There are 5 major nutrients group which are counted i.e. carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins and minerals, amount of each varies with the type of food and so the type and growth of microorganisms. Bacteria require the most nutrient requirement than yeasts and molds. Microorganisms utilize large complex nutrient molecules and convert them into smaller molecules. For e.g. there are some proteolytic bacteria which acts on proteins and hydrolyze it. Also some microbes convert lipids into glycerol with the help of an enzyme lipase. Some microorganisms which require vitamins for their growth are called as fastidious microorganisms.
  5. Inhibitory substances – There are a number of inhibitory substances that are present in foods by their origin which naturally prevent the growth of microorganisms in them. For e.g. some plants contain essential oils possessing antimicrobial properties. Milk also contains several antimicrobials like lactoferrin, conglutinin, etc.
  6. Biological structures – The natural structure of some foods have the remarkable excellence in controlling the entry as well as the growth of microorganisms in or on them. It can be noted as the natural covering of some foods which prevents the entry of microbes. So, the inner parts of the healthy tissues are sterile and possess very less microbial count. For e.g. skin of egg, rind on fruits, etc.

“Stop Worrying and Start Living” – Dale Carnegie – Book review

Dale Carnegie’s how to stop worrying and start living so the first big idea is ask yourself what’s the worst thing that can happen I remember the first year in college constantly worrying about my grades what was I getting to do if I got a B+ rather than an a well surely my life would be over and that i would never amount to anything in life like that was seriously the thought process browsing my 17 year old head now fast-forward five years.

How to Stop Worrying & Start Living
Carnegie tells a story of this guy in World War 2 who’s stuck in a submarine and basically knows that he’ll be dying in the next few hours and he sits there thinking about all the stuff he used to worry about at home and how absurd it was and makes a promise to never waste his life again like that if he survives now that might be hard to resonate with so let me give you a more contemporary example people are having their heads chopped off every single day every single day the only reason it’s not you is because you are born in a certain place. They weren’t that’s it now going back to my friend I told him look here’s what I want you to do every day you will start your morning by watching somebody’s head being chopped off and then you’ll go about the rest of the day.
He started freaking out about how he can’t do that and how he doesn’t like blood and whatever now here’s the thing. I know that’s really crass and morbid but I don’t care if you don’t worry about stuff great you don’t have to watch anything but if you’re worried about stupid all the time you have a disease so you either treat yourself or you never ask about how you can stop worrying again ever. Here’s what I will guarantee you if you start your day by watching someone else have their head chopped off nothing and I mean absolutely nothing could possibly happen to you for the rest of the day that you could get pissed off about and not feel like a complete retard yes when you’ve seen someone’s head chopped off you will have a weird feeling inside you as soon as you start to complain about how you deserve to be paid more at your job or what you’re going to do now since you bought a B+ rather than an A or how your washer is broken you’ll realize that.

automatic weapon bullet camouflage close up
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

If the guy had been given the chance to live and wear that same dirty shirt for the rest of his life without ever being able to wash it he would have been the happiest man alive realize the absurdity of it all the third big idea staying busy now I don’t mean the average busy person actually those are the people that worry the foremost the guy who works 12-hour days then comes home and watches Fox all night worrying about whether some guy can marry another guy or about all the foreigners who will come and take his job you know because he’s the only one entitled to that job I’m not talking about that kind of busy here’s how I like to stay busy read a book that I like go to the gym with my girlfriend play around on the piano and compose cook amazing food work on a project. I’m passionate about now here’s what happens when you do that your brain can’t think of two things at one time it just doesn’t have that capability you can try right now if you want you can’t think of your broken washing machine and at the same time think of how much you love playing soccer it’s not how your brain works so the best way to get rid of the negative thoughts in your head is to actually start putting positive thoughts in there get busy with what you love and your brain simply won’t even have the power to stress . Finally, a question that really resonated with me here’s what you’re going to do in your life you’re going to work and worry your entire life so you can gather a bunch of stuff like your house and all the stupid.

woman working girl sitting
Photo by Alexander Dummer on Pexels.com

If you’re lucky after 50 years of all that worry and stress all of your stuff could be worth 1,000,000 dollars here’s the question would you sell your legs for a million dollars let me ask you this would you sell your legs for a billion dollars I wouldn’t and you probably wouldn’t either would you sell your arms for another billion dollars no there you go you have already got something that you simply value at two billion dollars actually hopefully more but you do not need to be all Zen you could be a greedy capitalist like me and understand this now here’s what you’re going to do you’re going to ignore and not utilize something worth two billion dollars because you’re too busy worrying and stressing about the things that might amount to 1 million dollars at the end of your life oh and you’ll be considered really lucky if that happens by the way all right.

cheerful barista in apron and hat with portafilter
Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com

So, I don’t know if you’re seeing how crazy that is but that’s kind of like having a huge mansion a personal jet every single car you ever wished for and not using and enjoying those things because you’re too worried about at some point having the ability to shop for a Corolla that’s crazy and sad you have already got everything that you value at billions and billions of dollars so stop ignoring wasting and treating it like for hours and days so you can worry and bitch about how your phone bill went up from a hundred dollars to a hundred and twenty.

You can buy this amazing book from here ( click here )

CHEESE- introduction and production

Cheese is a most commonly used dairy product which is a product derived from milk. Cheese is available in the market in various textures, forms and flavors. It is basically the product of coagulation of milk protein, casein. Cheese is said to be a concentrated form of two major products i.e. Milk protein (casein) and Milk fat. Combination of these two results in the production of cheese which is very much liked by everyone nowadays.
The other ingredients of cheese besides milk are a particular, selective strain of a bacterium, a milk clotting agent and some amount of sodium chloride (to give a salty flavor).
Various types of cheese are present in the market which is basically due to the variation in its basic constituents. No new ingredient is actually added in forming the new type of cheese. Just a basic variation in the already present ingredients can help. Sometimes there is a need to add new additional ingredients which give rise to completely different variety of cheese. It has also been observed and noted that the change in any environmental conditions surrounding the manufacture and subsequent ripening of cheese also affects its manufacturing and thus type.
BASIC CHEESE MANUFACTURING PROCESS –
The basic cheese manufacturing process consists of 3 main stages – Curdling, Curd processing and ripening. All different varieties of cheese can be manufactured at different levels of manufacturing means some cheese can be made in the first step while some needs all the 3 steps to completely occur.

  1. CURDLING –
    It is the first and the most important step in the production of cheese. In this step, there is a separation of milk into solid curds and liquid whey. Usually, this step is achieved by the addition of acidifying (souring) agent in milk and adding the enzyme RENNET. The acidification can also be achieved by directly adding some acidic agent such as vinegar. But most commonly for this acidification purpose, a starter bacteria is used which converts milk sugars into lactic acid and without even the addition of any acidic substance, the acidification is achieved. The common starter bacteria which are used are from Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, or Streptococcus families. Swiss cheese requires the addition of Propionibacter Sherman, which is used to produce Carbon dioxide bubbles during ageing resulting in the hole like structure of Swiss cheese.
    Some fresh cheeses are curdled only the acidification process, but most cheeses require the addition of enzyme, rennet which sets the cheese as strong and rubbery. It also allows the curdling step at low acidity.
  2. CURD PROCESSING
    Till this step, the cheese has now set into a very moist gel. Some soft types of cheeses are essentially complete in the first step. They are just drained, salted and packaged. But from other cheeses, which are not been prepared in the single step, the curd is cut into small cubes which allows the remaining water to drain off from the individual pieces of curd itself.
    Some harder cheeses are then heated at a normal temperature which deliberately forces out the whey from the cut curds. This step changes the taste and flavor of the cheese. Apart from providing a salty flavor to cheese, salting has some other benefits also like it prevents cheese from spoiling, it drains out moisture and also it is used in firming he cheese’s texture in an interaction with its proteins. Different cheeses have different processes of getting texture.
  3. RIPENING
    Most of the cheeses are already prepared in the last step, some of which are not prepared yet are of harder varieties and more rubbery in texture which is completely attained in this step. In this step, the cheeses are left to rest under controlled conditions. This step is also known as AGING. This step may take several years to complete. As a cheese ages, the microbes and the enzymes secreted by them transform its texture and also intensify the flavor. This transformation is more of a result of the breakdown of casein proteins and milk fat into a complex mixture of amino acids, amines and fatty acids.

YOGURT- a fermented milk product

Yogurt is a basic fermented milk product that usually contains the basic bacterial starter cultures of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophillus.
Although the composition of different types of yogurts changes but there is some fixed composition of fats present in them. It is important to note that all yogurts must contain at least 8.25% of solid which is not fat. The fat composition changes with the type of yogurt like full fat yogurt must contain not less than 3.25% of milk fat whereas low fat yogurt must not contain more than 2% milk fat. Also there is a category of non fat yogurt where the fat composition is even less than 0.5%.
The yogurt is basically a mixture of milk and cream which is then fermented by using a culture of Lactic acid producing bacteria. The types of milk which can be used are whole, reduced-fat, low-fat or non-fat depending on which the type of yogurt is decided. The lactic acid produced by the starter culture bacteria is basically responsible for lowering the pH of the yogurt making it acidic and tart. This finally causes the milk protein to thicken. These bacteria ferment the milk which results in the production of yogurt leads to partial digestion of the milk making it more easily digestible. In addition, these bacteria also act as a beneficial microorganisms for the human body as they act as oral-antibiotic therapy and helps in eliminating the pathogenic-bacteria from the gut and replenishing the non-pathogenic bacteria.


Ingredients of yogurt
Milk
Cream
Sweeteners (e.g. sugar, honey, aspartame, etc)
Flavorings (e.g. vanilla, coffee, etc)
Other ingredients (e.g. fruits, preserves, stabilizers such as gelatin)

Types of yogurt –

  1. Set yogurt – This type of yogurt has a jelly-like structure and texture and is incubated and cooled in a final package.
  2. Stirred yogurt – This type is less firm than set yogurt. It is incubated in a tank and final coagulum is broken by stirring before cooling.
  3. Drinking yogurt – It also has coagulum broken before cooling though very little reformation of coagulum will occur.
  4. Frozen yogurt – This type of yogurt is incubated in the same way the stirred yogurt is incubated. It has an ice-cream like texture.
  5. Flavored yogurt – In this type of yogurt, flavors are added just before yogurt is poured into pots and the sugar content present in this type of yogurt is about 50%.

General processing of yogurt

  1. Adjusting milk composition and blending all the ingredients
  2. Pasteurization of milk (at 85 degrees celcius for 85 minutes)
  3. Homogenization of milk (2000-2500psi)
  4. Cooling of milk to 42 degree celcius
  5. Inoculation with bacterial starter cultures into the cooled milk
  6. pH reduction by waiting for sometime
  7. Again cooling to 7 degree celcius
  8. Addition of fruits and flavors
  9. Packaging of prepared yogurt.

Health benefits of yogurt:
• Yogurt is comparably easier to digest than milk.
• It is rich in variety of vitamins.
• It is a rich source of protein.
• As it is source of protein, it may help in losing weight and gain muscles.
• It acts as a booster for immune system
• It is also important and useful for digestive system. It destroys the pathogenic microorganisms from the gut.
• It is good for bones especially for kids and elderly
• It may also be useful in lowering the blood pressure.

PRESERVATION OF FOOD USING DRYING METHOD

Drying or dehydration can be defined as the removal of water from the food by controlled processes, which can be achieved by either of 3 ways –

  1. Evaporation due to heating of the food product
  2. Osmotic dehydration
  3. Sublimation, or freeze drying

Drying can be explained as a 2 stage process in which in the first stage, the surface water removal takes place which totally depends on the state of air surrounding that food particle such as its temperature, relative humidity, and speed. On the other hand in the second stage of the drying, the moisture which is present within the food particle is allowed to move onto the surface which can be then again removed by the process of the first stage.
The rate of drying basically depends on the time that moisture takes to come onto the surface of the food from its inside. Heating of any particle accelerated its time of drying. The shortest time period has been noted in starchy foods.
There are 5 basic methods of drying –

  1. TUNNEL DRYING –
    Many years ago, for the purpose of preservation of agricultural products by the means of drying, a solar tunnel dryer was developed. It is an amazing device which can be used for the hygienic preservation of food and also acts as a good alternative for the seasonal agricultural surplus. Also the foods which are dried using this process are more hygienic and superior rather than other methods.
  2. SOLAR DRYING –
    I t is also known as sun drying and is a method of drying any substance using natural sunlight. This drying technique offers faster drying rates and greater protection of the product. There are several problems or limitations which are associated which this type of drying technique, such as the drying areas must be free of dust and whenever there are chances of a dust storm or rain, the drying process cannot be continued.
    There is also a process known as shade drying which can be carried out for the product which can easily lose their color and turn brown if kept in sunlight i.e. they are non-photosynthetic.
  3. SPRAY DRYING –
    This is a unique technique which ultimately transforms the substrate from a liquid to dried form by spraying the feed into a hot drying medium. It is a continuous process and takes time. The dried products which are ultimately obtained can be in the form of powders, granules or agglomerates. It is a multi-step process.
  4. VACUUM DRYING –
    Since evaporation of water takes place more easily and effectively at lower pressures, so vacuum drying was developed which is faster than the process of evaporation. This is an expensive method and is used for some specific products.
  5. FREEZE DRYING –
    This method uses the process of sublimation, which is a process which directly converts solid particles to their gaseous state, without first melting them. It is a technique which is very used in preserving food at low temperatures because at less temperature, chemical reactions occur very rarely and food is rarely attacked by pathogens. It is also a multi-step process which includes freezing, vacuuming, heating and finally condensation of the product.

FOOD SPOILAGE

Food is considered contaminated when unwanted microorganisms are present. Most of the time, the contamination is natural, but sometimes it can be artificial too.
NATURAL CONTAMINATION occurs when microorganisms attach themselves to foods while the foods are in growing stages.
ARTIFICIAL CONTAMINATION occurs when the food is handled or processed such as when fecal bacteria enter food through improper handling procedures.
CAUSES OF FOOD SPOILAGE:

  1. Growth and Activity of microorganisms – Bacteria, yeasts and molds are microorganisms that cause food spoilage. They produce various enzymes that decompose various constituents of food.
  2. Enzyme activity – Action of enzymes start the decomposition of various food components after death of plants and animals.
  3. Chemical reactions – These are the reactions that are not catalyzed by any enzyme. E.g. Oxidation of fats
  4. Vermin – It includes weevils, ants, rats, mice, birds, larval stage of some insects. Vermin are important due to asthetic aspect of their presence, possible transmission of pathogenic agents and consumption of food.
  5. Physical changes – These include changes caused by freezing, burning, drying, pressure etc.
    SOURCES OF FOOD CONTAMINATION. PHYSICAL SPOILAGE is due to physical damage to food during harvesting, processing or distribution. The damage increases the chance of chemical or microbial spoilage and contamination because the protective outer layer of food is broken and microorganisms can enter through it. CHEMICAL SPOILAGE in food are responsible for changes in the color and flavor of foods during processing and storage. After harvesting, chemical changes begin automatically within foods and lead to deterioration. Every living organism uses specialized proteins called enzymes to drive the chemical reactions in its cell. After death, enzymes play an important role in the decomposition of living tissues in a process called as autolysis (self-destruction) or ENZYMATIC SPOILAGE. MICROBIAL SPOILAGE is due to bacteria, yeasts or molds. They produce various enzymes that decompose various constituents of food. • Besides natural microorganisms, foods can be contaminated with different types of microbes coming from outside sources such as air, soil, sewage water, humans, food ingredients, equipments, packages, insects, etc.

The primary sources of microorganisms in food may include –

  1. Soil and Water – Soil grows agricultural produce and raise animals and birds which might contain several microorganisms. Also, these microbes can multiply in soil and their numbers can be even very high as expected. Fecal materials may also contaminate soils which can act as a source of microorganisms. Sewage water can also contaminate crops with variety of microorganisms when sewage water is used as a fertilizer. So, Sewage must be always treated before using as a fertilizer.
  2. Plants and plant products – The inside tissue of food from plant sources are essentially sterile except for few porous vegetables such as radish, onion and cabbage. Also it has been observed that some plants produce natural metabolites that can limit the presence of microorganisms in those particular foods. Fruits and vegetables contain a variety of microorganisms on their surface and their presence and number depends on various factors such as disease of the plant, storage, etc.
  3. Food utensils – Many different microorganisms can contaminate food utensils from which they can transmit to human body and make them ill if pathogenic. Proper cleansing and sanitization of food utensils is required before serving food in them.
  4. Food handlers – Food handler is a person who touches or handles food. The microorganism may be transmitted from his hand to the food and may be harmful for the person consuming that particular food. The microbes can come from animals or from the environment.
  5. Animal hides and skins – Food animals and birds normally carry various indigenous microorganisms some of which are pathogens and are responsible for food-borne diseases in humans. The number of these microorganisms is less than10/g.
  6. Air and dust – Microorganisms may be present in dust and moisture droplets in the air. The microorganisms which are present in air may be transient or variable depending on the environment. Some pathogenic microorganisms may cause air-borne diseases.

What is special about today…?

The solar eclipse

Solar_eclipse_1999_4_NR

Today 21 June, The sun sheds light directly on the Tropic of Cancer on June 21. From March to September, the northern hemisphere gets more sunlight than the southern one. June 21 is the day when the northern hemisphere receives the most direct sunlight, which causes the day to last longer than any other day in the year, known as Solar eclipse. This year, the annual solar eclipse will occur on 21 June. According to Time and Date, the eclipse will begin at 9.15 am IST and will end at 15.04 pm. The maximum eclipse will be visible at 12.10 pm. In the Northern Hemisphere, where it is the longest day of the year in terms of daylight, the June solstice is also called the summer solstice.

Why it is the longest day ?, because Since the Earth rotates on the axis, the North of the Equator receives more direct sunlight between the month of March and September, hence Summer is experienced during the time. Is there any effect on humans? yes during the total solar eclipse, the total eclipse may last only a short period of time, and if you are looking towards the sun as the moon moves away from blocking the sun, you might get a solar burn on your retina which can cause permanent damage to your eyes.

The Father’s day

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Furthermore, 21 June also celebrated as the father’s day, a person, who makes a path of success for their child, even though he has to suffer from any critical condition. Father’s Day is a day of honoring fatherhood and paternal bonds, as well as the influence of fathers in society. Father’s Day was founded by Sonora Smart Dodd and celebrated on the third Sunday of June for the first time in 1910. It is held on various days in many parts of the world all throughout the year, often in the months of March, May, and June.

To celebrate Father’s Day, try making your dad a card and writing a note inside letting him know how much you appreciate him. we can also surprise him with his favorite meal, whether it’s breakfast in bed or a nice dinner when he gets home from work. it is important and It is necessary because all year we want to do special for mom and dad. These Mother’s Day and Father’s Day remind us to do for our parents. Our parents also feeling special on this day or we are doing that thing to make happy or mesmerizing. This is the best part of Father’s Day our parents wish to fulfill by their children.

On this father’s day don’t purchase any gifts for father, instead, Show and Tell him how much you love him, Create poems using the letters of father’s name as the first letter of each line, or make a list of positive character qualities which begin with each letter of his name, Perhaps there’s a song he always sings halfway through and hums the rest because he doesn’t know the words. Find the lyrics online, print them, and have the family sing along with him and, Have fun with a guessing game in which someone asks the father about his favorite things: his favorite color, recipe, movie, sports team, song, etc.

पापा हर फ़र्ज़ निभाते हैं,
जीवन भर क़र्ज़ चुकाते हैं.
बच्चे की एक ख़ुशी के लिए,
अपने सुख भूल ही जाते हैं.

फिर क्यों ऐसे पापा के लिए,
बच्चे कुछ कर ही नहीं पाते.
ऐसे सच्चे पापा को क्यों,
पापा कहने में भी सकुचाते.

पापा का आशीष बनाता है,
बच्चे का जीवन सुखदाइ.
पर बच्चे भूल ही जाते हैं,
यह कैसी आँधी है आई.

जिससे सब कुछ पाया है,
जिसने सब कुछ सिखलाया है.
कोटि नम्न ऐसे पापा को,
जो हर पल साथ निभाया है.

प्यारे पापा के प्यार भरे
सीने से जो लग जाते हैं.
सच्च कहती हूँ विश्वास करो,
जीवन में सदा सुख पाते हैं.

 

The origin of life-RNA WORLD?????

The origin of life depends on the singe question – How did early cells could have arisen?
Modern cells consist at a minimum of plasma membrane enclosing water in which numerous chemicals are dissolved and sub cellular structures float. It was thus believed that the first self-replicating entity was much simpler than even the most primitive modern living cells. Before there was life, and yes, Earth was a different place: completely hot and anoxic, with an atmosphere which was completely rich in gases such as hydrogen, methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and ammonia. Earth’s surface was like a pre biotic soup in which chemicals reacted with one another, randomly “testing” the usefulness of the reaction and the stability of the resulting molecules. Some reactions released energy and would eventually become the basis of modern cellular metabolism. Other reactions which occurred created molecules that could function as catalysts, some aggregated with other molecules to form the predecessors of modern cell structures, and others were able to replicate and act as units of hereditary information.
Proteins have two major roles in modern cells – structural and objective.
Catalytic proteins are called enzymes, in cells. Thus enzymes act as the workhorses of the cell. DNA stores hereditary information and can be replicated to pass the information on to the next generation. RNA is involved in converting the information stored in DNA into proteins. Proteins can do cellular work, but their synthesis is dependent on their proteins and RNA, and information stored in DNA. DNA can’t do cellular work. It’s only work is to store genetic information and it is involved in its own replication process which is a process that requires proteins. RNA is synthesized using DNA as the template and proteins as the catalysts for the reaction.
Based on these considerations, it seemed to evolutionary biologists that at some time in the evolution of life there must have been a single molecule that could do both cellular work and replicate itself. A possible solution to the nature of this molecule was suggested in 1981 when Thomas Cech discovered an RNA molecule in the protest Tetrahymena that could cut out an internal section of itself and slice the remaining sections back together. Since then, other catalytic RNA molecules have been discovered, including an RNA found in ribosomes that is responsible for forming peptide bonds – the bonds that hold together amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Catalytic RNA molecules are now called ribozymes.
The discovery of ribozymes suggested the possibility that RNA at some time had the ability to catalyze its own replication, using itself as the template. In 1986, a term was coined – RNA WORLD to describe a precellular stage in the evolution of life in which RNA was capable of storing, copying, and expressing genetic information. Also it catalyzes other cellular chemical reactions. This important evolutionary step is easier to imagine than other events in the origin cellular life forms because it is well known that lipids, major structural components of the membranes of modern organisms, form liposomes which are bounded by a lipid layer.

Dexamethasone- Corona Vaccine Update!!!

Finally some good news today dexamethasone is now being called a major breakthrough based on a recent randomized controlled trial in the UK. Dexamethasone also known as Decadron is an example of a glucocorticoid are sometimes referred to as corticosteroids other examples of glucocorticoids include hydrocortisone methyl prednisolone prednisolone, prednisone beta methazone and triamcinolone so glucocorticoids are a class of steroid hormones that bind to the glucocorticoid receptor in the body cortisol aka hydrocortisone is the glucocorticoid.

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Photo by Edward Jenner on Pexels.com

We naturally make in our body it’s essential for life it regulates or supports various cardiovascular metabolic and homeostatic functions it also plays a big role in our immune system especially when it comes to reducing certain aspects of inflammation this is why we use them all the time in medicine we sometimes give these steroids for asthma copd rheumatologic type diseases and countless more diseases. Sometimes it is also given for steroids for meningitis and also for some forms of cancer we also give them in the early course of severe ards acute respiratory distress syndrome whether that ards is due to infection such as pneumonia or vaping lung injury or whatever the cause for severe ards we typically give methylprednisolone or solumedral at a dose of one milligram per kilogram per day. So, for most people that ends up being around 80 milligrams per day so this is the equivalent of 15 milligrams of dexamethasone the idea here is to suppress the cytokine storm that has taken place meaning that the massive amount of inflammation that causes lung damage and can indirectly cause damage to other organs as well our body naturally makes cortisol in our adrenal glands specifically in the zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex the adrenal gland then secretes cortisol into the bloodstream and the cortisol travels to different tissues of the body and then binds to the glucocorticoid receptor inside cells it then stimulates the cell to make more anti-inflammatory proteins and causes the cell to make less pro-inflammatory proteins but giving someone glucocorticoids meaning steroids to someone who has an infection is somewhat of a tricky thing because the fear is that if you suppress the body’s immune system it has the potential to make the infection worse. Sometimes the body’s immune system does more damage than the actual infection for example in cases of meningitis that is due to either streptococcus or tuberculosis we give steroids because the medical evidence shows that they have better outcomes when we do so and giving someone steroids for viral pneumonias like influenza is more controversial because doing so generally leads to worse infection with that said if the viral pneumonia is so bad to the point of causing severe ards most doctors will give steroids in that situation. So this is why, the general medical guidelines so far recommend against giving steroids for covert pneumonia unless the patient has severe ards and we’ve been waiting for randomized controlled trials to come out for steroids in covid and here we are now with this study so in march of 2020 the recovery trial which stands for randomized evaluation of covid-19 therapy was one of the randomized control trials that actually looked at several different potential treatments for covid which included low-dose dexamethasone this trial was done in the UK.

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Image source: Sky News

Over 11 500 patients in it so this trial has not been peer reviewed as of has not been published in the journal yet so everything I know so far is based on what’s been released to the general public in this trial over 2100 patients were randomized to receive dexamethasone specifically six milligrams once per day for 10 days and this group was compared with over 4 300 patients that were randomized to the standard care alone so 6 milligrams of dexamethasone is the equivalent of 32 milligrams of methylprednisolone so this is about half the dose we would typically use for someone with severe ards so among the patients who received standard care alone 20-day mortality was highest in those who required mechanical ventilation this was 41 and then intermediate in those patients who required supplemental oxygen only this was mortality rate of 25 percent and the mortality rate was lowest among those who did not require supplemental oxygen in which that mortality rate was 13 for patients who were on mechanical ventilators dexamethasone reduced mortality from 41 percent to 28 percent for patients who needed supplemental oxygen it reduced mortality from 25 percent to 20 percent and there was no benefit among those patients who do not require supplement oxygen in other words if someone only had mild disease there was no point in giving dexamethasone so based on these results one death would be prevented by the treatment of around eight ventilated patients. So that’s the number needed to treat for ventilated patients and then the number needed to treat for the ones who required supplemental oxygen that number needed to treat would be 25 so these preliminary results are significant but it doesn’t mean that dexamethasone is a miracle drug it’s certainly not a cure but it does seem to help based on these numbers index and methazone could be of huge benefit and not just rich countries but poorer countries as well because this drug is very cheap and is widely available so this is great news and very exciting but there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered like what is the ideal dose should we use higher doses in patients who are mechanically ventilated with ards and when will it be approved for use in the united states and we’ll get these answers pretty soon now another.

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Interesting question is should we give decadron dexamethasone to people who have mild disease now even though this study didn’t show any benefit the reason why i bring this up is because some people start out with mild disease and then go on to have moderate or severe disease and we have no way of predicting who goes on to do that and also it happens very quickly lots of times someone could be doing just fine and then all of a sudden within hours they all of a sudden are deteriorating and they have severe disease so should we give those patients decadron regardless is there any harm doing so that’s another question that remains to be seen.

GOOD LABORATORY PRACTICES AND BIO-SAFETY METHODS

  1. When you arrive the laboratory, the first thing is that you must wash your hands with a disinfectant soap for your immediate sanitization.
  2. Eating anything in the laboratory area and smoking is strictly prohibited. Do not put anything in your mouth such as pencils, labels, or fingers. Do not store food in areas where microorganisms are stored.
  3. Purchase a lab coat and safety glasses and use them. Leave protective clothing in lab and do not wear it in non-lab areas.
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  1. Avoid loose fitting items of clothing. Wear appropriate shoes (sandals not allowed) in the laboratory.
  2. Backpacks, purses and quotes should be placed in the cubbyhole by the front door of the lab. Place needed items on the floor near your feet, but not in the aisle.
  3. Disinfect work areas before and after use with 70% ethanol and fresh 10% bleach. The regular disinfection of the laboratory surfaces must be done using appropriate disinfectants like hypochlorite solution which kills almost pathogenic microorganisms.
  4. Label everything clearly.
  5. Caps and lids of reagents, solution bottles, and bacterial must be replaced properly in order to prevent contamination and petri dishes must not be opened directly in the lab unless absolutely necessary.
  6. Inoculating loops and needles should be flame sterilize in a bunsen burner before you lay them down.
  7. Turn of bunsen burner when not in use. Long hair must be restrained if bunsen burner are in use.
  8. Flame sterilization using alcohol must be done so carefully and it must be kept in mind that no papers or similar materials that can catch fire easily are nearby.
  9. Treat all microorganisms as potential pathogens and culturing of microorganisms must be done inside a special sterilized laminar flow hood and not outside it because many air-borne microorganisms can be spread.
  10. Wear disposable gloves when working with potentially infectious microbes and samples. If you are surely working with a pathogenic sample, you must handle it with extra care so that it doesn’t spill out on you or on any surface of the laboratory.
  11. Sterilize equipment and materials.
  12. Never pipette by mouth.
  13. Consider everything a bio hazard. Do not pour anything down the sink. Autoclave liquids and brought cultures to sterilize them before discarding.
  14. Dispose off all solid waste material in a biohazard bag and autoclave it before discarding in the regular trash.
  15. There are a special column of safety equipment in the laboratory which you must be aware of so that in case of any emergency you can make use of those safety equipments.
  16. Dispose of broken glass in the broken glass container.
  17. Dispose of razor blades, syringes, and sharp metal object in the “sharps” container.
  18. If by any chance, there is any type of spill of sample or culture or any media, you must immediately contact your instructor or mentor so that he/she can help you and find a solution to remove it from the surface. If you’re able to clean the spill by yourself do it immediately.
  19. In the same way, in case of any mishappening or sudden accident, you must immediately report to your instructor for the immediate help.

How artificial intelligence is transforming the future of digital marketing

From smart search options and personalized messaging to being used in campaigns and marketing, AI and machine learning are increasingly being used in digital marketing.

Digital marketing relies on leveraging insights from the copious amounts of data that gets created every time a customer interacts with a digital asset. Algorithms optimize various factors and data points that influence digital marketing success.
In 2020, we anticipate a significant uptick in the mainstreaming of AI and machine learning use cases in digital marketing across several areas. 

Search will get very smart

In the past year, online search has had several AI and machine learning developments. Google is leading the pack with exciting applications in information retrieval. For example, Google’s BERT technology can process a word in the context of all the other terms in a sentence, rather than one-by-one in order. BERT also enables anyone to train their own state-of-the-art question answering system.  

Customization of search results and the results page based on learning from past interactions and preferences of a user is another application of machine learning used in search.

AI-driven personalization of messaging 

Several attach companies have been focusing on using AI and machine learning to find the right audience to write better ads than humans, and to increase conversion rates and engagement with the target audience. There are also several AI-led developments in the area of creating dynamic ads and landing pages to personalize marketing messages on the fly. 

AI has an application in content creation in terms of determining the logic of personalization as also crating content specific to an individual, using techniques such as natural language generation (NLG).

Use of machine learning in campaign operations 

Platforms such as Google and Face book have been at the forefront of AI/ML applications in marketing. Starting from smart bidding and smart campaigns to auto-generated ads, Google is making it easy for advertisers.

Smart bidding options such as TROAS, TCPA, and others use advanced machine learning algorithms to train on data at a vast scale to make accurate predictions about how different bid amounts might impact conversion or conversion value and assist advertisers in optimizing without getting into too many details. 

Google factors in a wide range of contextual signals (through search data) to predict user behavior and to influence auction time bidding as per the goal set by advertisers. Facebook has also incorporated machine learning across campaign planning and execution, as also in ad placements and ad delivery.

Similarly, on the organic search side, machine learning-based product ALPS reverse engineers Google’s ranking algorithm, and is able to accurately quantify ranking drivers, provide precise recommendations for changes, and predicts the impact of SEO actions before they are implemented.

Similar technology to drive improved ad copy testing in digital marketing exists. These help in evaluating ad copies and landing pages on various parameters like relevancy, use of action promoters/inhibitors, urgency inducers, page layout, load times, etc., to gauge the impact on ad relevance, expected CTR, and landing page experience. 

Future trends 

AI will also have additional application in digital marketing with the uptick in the adoption of technologies such as VR and AR, as commercial use cases of these technologies find wider adoption in retail and other sectors.

Many retailers are also testing AI and VR/AR technologies together to make the user experience personalized to an individual.

Other areas of impact include voice search. We will increasingly see ads about things which we just said or talked about, but haven’t searched for yet. Similarly, image search is also being used by many brands for their consumers to match patterns and identify products using image search. 

The coming years will continue to unfold newer potential uses of AI in digital marketing.

BEST WAY TO LEARN PYTHON PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE

Python is a very popular programming language. It was developed by Guido van Rossum & released in 1991. Guido van Rossum started implementing Python in 1989. Python is not difficult programming language to learn so even if you are new in programming you can learn python without facing any issues. There are many best way to learn python programming.
And below i have mentioned them to the best of my knowledge
Python is used for:

web development (server-side)
software development
mathematics
system scripting
WHY SHOULD YOU LEARN PYTHON PROGRAMMING?
Python works on different platforms e.g. Windows, Mac, Linux and Raspberry Pi
Python has a very simple syntax similar to the English language.
Python has simple syntax that allows developers to write programs with fewer lines than some other languages.
Python runs on an interpreter system, meaning that code can be executed as soon as it’s written.
Python is the most widely used programming languages in the field of AI.
Developers used Python to build productivity tools games & desktop apps, so there are variety of way that help you to learn python programming
You can prefer below mentioned best book to learn python programming:

Python Crash Course
Head-First Python, 2nd edition
Learn Python 3 the Hard Way
Real Python Course, Part 1
How important is it to learn python?

Easier to learn which keeps you going to learn anything & everything in Python
Development is faster than C and Java. In today’s development arena for a corporation beginning , the most challenge is building the merchandise first & fast & then keep doing the feature enhancements & bug fixing.
Python programmers are less compared to Java/C/C++/C# etc so finding a Python resource is also not easy hence Python developers are often paid higher.
Strong Python community. From free workshop to Meetups Volunteered Conferences every Python Developer will be willing to help you if you are stuck.
Last but not the least- Once you start learning python programming language, you will fall in love with it & I bet she will not cheat or dump you & probably you would end up getting married with her.
Type Of Jobs Which Are Available To Python Programmers?

There are too many roles Are Available To Python Programmers within the job market, Python is usually checked out as a robust secondary supplemental language to a primary language that is more broadly used like C/Java.
There are a different types of jobs that one can get focusing exclusively on Python development, so, Some of these jobs will be in building and enhancing the internal tools that a company uses to develop its finished marketable products rather than working on the finished product itself.
One specific economic sector where the presence of Python programming language is particularly very strong is the geospatial industry. This is a critical industry that deals in navigational tools like GPS, radar & light measurements.
If you are interested in web applications I suggest Python is a better choice for development rather than design.

MECHANISM OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF ANTIBIOTICS

Antibacterial Drugs are classified according to their site of action which are as follows :

CELL WALL SYNTHESIS INHIBITORS
There are 3 different mechanisms by which anti-cell wall drugs work and thus they are also classified as following:

  1. First classification involves the drugs that directly interact with Penicillin-Binding-Proteins (PBPs) and inhibit the transpeptidase activity which in turn inhibits the attachment of newly formed peptidoglycan subunit to the pre-existing one.
    This is the main mechanism of β-lactam antibiotics. These antibiotics include Penicillin (penams), cephalosporins, Penems, Carbapenems, and monobactams.
    These antibiotics bind to the penicillin-binding proteins which are enzymes present in the bacterial cell wall. Different β-lactam antibiotics bind in a different way. After the antibiotics bind to the enzyme, it changes the morphological response of the bacteria to the antibiotic.
  2. Second classification involves the drugs that bind to the peptidoglycan subunit, blocking different processes.
    The important class of compounds called as glycopeptides are mainly involved in this mechanism of anti-cell wall antibiotics.
    Vancomycin and Teicoplanin are the major examples of glycopeptide antibiotics.
    Vancomycin kills only gram-poitive bacteria whereas Teicoplanin is active against both. The overall mode of action of glycopeptides antibiotics is blocking transpeptidation i.e. similar to β-lactam antibiotics, they also inhibit the transpeptidase activity, and transglycosylation i.e. they being large in size attach to the peptidoglycan subunits thus creating a blockage which does not allow the cell wall subunits to attach to the growing peptidoglycan backbone.
  3. Third classification involves the drugs that block the transport of peptidoglycan subunits across cytoplasmic membrane.
    The main example of such type of drugs is bacitracin, which is a simple peptide antibiotic originally isolated from Bacillus subtilis.
    The mode of action of these class of drugs is blocking the activity of specific cell membrane lipid carriers which act as the attachment surface for peptidoglycan precursors and help in their movement from cell cytoplasm to exterior of the cell. This activity of lipid carriers is inhibited by bacitracin like drugs and they finally prevent the incoroporation of those precursors into cell wall thus inhibiting its biosynthesis.

Although, its route of administration is mostly oral or intramuscular, bacitracin is also known to show its effects when used as topical ointments like Neosporin.

INHIBITORS OF PROTEIN SYNTHESIS
Protein Inhibitors can be divided into 2 parts:

  1. Inhibitors binding to 30S subunits
    • Aminoglycosides bind to the bacterial ribosome, after which they cause tRNA mismatching and thus protein mistranslation.
    This occurs by mismatching between codons and anticodons, which synthesize proteins with incorrect amino acid. This mistranslated protein, along with correctly translated proteins move into move into the periplasm where most of the mistranslated proteins are degraded and some of them are inserted into cytoplasmic membrane. This causes disruption of the membrane, ultimately killing the bacterial cells.
    • Tetracyclines are bacteriostatic and block the binding of tRNAs with the ribosome during translation thus inhibiting protein synthesis. Most of the tetracycline class of drugs are broad spectrum and are active against wide range of bacteria.
  2. Inhibitors binding to the 50S subunit
    • Macrolides are the large class of naturally produced secondary antibiotics. They are basically broad spectrum, bacteriostatic antibiotics. Their main mode of action is blocking peptide chain elongation and they inhibit the formation of peptide bond.
    Patients allergic to penicillins are recommended erythromycin which is a macrolide.
    • Lincosamides include lincomycin and clindamycin. Though they are structurally different but functionally similar to macrolides. They are specifically known to inhibit streptococcal and staphylococcal infections.
    • Chloramphenicol also inhibits peptidyl transferase reaction inhibiting peptide bond formation. It was the first broad spectrum antibiotic and is very much active against a broad range of bacterial pathogens but is very toxic and can cause side.

INHIBITORS OF MEMBRANE FUNCTION
Biological cytoplasmic membranes are basically composed of lipids, proteins and lipoproteins. The cytoplasmic membrane acts as a selective barrier which allows the transport of materials between inside the cell and the environment.
A number of antibacterial agents work by targeting the bacterial cell membrane. They basically are involved in the disorganization of the membrane. Polymyxins and Lipopeptides are the main anti- cell membrane agents.

NUCLEIC ACID SYNTHESIS INHIBITORS
These drugs inhibit nucleic acid synthesis function by either of the following:

  1. Interfere with RNA of bacterial cell
    Antibacterial drugs of this mechanism are selective against bacterial pathogenic cells.
    For example: The drug rifampin, belonging to the drug class rifamycin blocks the bacterial RNA polymerase activity. It is also active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and thus id used in the treatment of tuberculosis infection. It also shows side effects.
  2. Interfere with DNA of bacterial cell
    There are some antibacterial agents that interfere with the activity of DNA gyrase.
    The drug class fluoroquinolones show this mechanism. They are borad spectrum antibacterial agents. Some examples of drugs in fluoroquinolone family are Ciprofloxacin, Ofloxacin, Moxifloxacin, etc

INHIBITORS OF METABOLIC PATHWAYS
There are some antibacterial drugs which act as ANTIMETABOLITES and inhibits the metabolic pathways of bacteria.
• The sulfonamides block the production of dihydrofolic acid.
This blocks the production of purines and pyrimidines required for nucleic acid synthesis by blocking the biosynthesis of folic acid. Their mechanism of action is bacteriostatic and they are broad spectrum antibacterial agents. Though humans also obtain folic acid but these drugs are selective against bacteria.
Sulfones are also structurally and functionally similar to sulfonamides.
• Trimethoprim is used in the same folic acid synthesis pathway but at a different phase, in the production of tetrahydrofolic acid.
• There is another drug, Isoniazid which is an antimetabolite only selective against mycobacteria. It can also be used to treat tuberculosis when used in combination with rifampin and streptomycin.

INHIBITORS OF ATP SYNTHASE
There is a class of drug compounds called as Diarylquinolones that are specifically active against mycobacterial growth. They block the oxidative phosphorylation process and finally leading to reduced ATP production which either kill or inhibit the growth of mycobacterial species.